Grammatische Relationen im Sumerischen

Abstract

The present article discusses the foundations of Sumerian morphosyntax in the light of a strongly typological, and – in parts – cognitive perspective. The general layout of Sumerian morphosyntax, morphosemantics, morphopragmatics, and meaning constructions can be derived from universal patterns of arranging the basic constituents of clausal expressions, namely reference and relation. These cognitive constituents can be interlinked with the help of specific echoes that show up (in Sumerian) as case and agreement markers. The way of expressing these echoes as well as their functional (or: semantic) scope locate Sumerian constructional types on the Accusative Ergative Continuum. We will argue that the Sumerian constructional patterns have started from a dichotomic way of distinguishing center and periphery in an ergative way. This constructional pattern had a ‘syntactic’ value, as it allowed diathesis in order to encode a non-punctional, durative aspect. This aspect construction showed up as an antipassive that later became grammaticalized as an expression of non-past constructions. This ‘tense-split’, typical for a number of adjacent linguistic areas, ended up in the grammaticalization of the antipassive as an accusative construction (‘marû-construction’), whereas the past domain remained strongly ergative (‘-construction’). The accusative pattern then again allowed a diathesis which now was a passive in nature.